Patents Assigned to Fichtel & Sachs AG
  • Patent number: 5704462
    Abstract: A cylinder for hydraulic systems, in particular for motor vehicles, includes a housing with an axial boring, in which a piston fastened to a piston rod is displaced axially in a guided manner, and one end surface of which is pressurized with hydraulic fluid, and which is guided in a sealed manner with respect to the housing. The cylinder is provided with connections for at least one pressure line, a connection to a fluid chamber and for fastening, and at least one lip seal, which lip seal is located in the housing to seal the housing with respect to the exterior surface of the piston. The piston and/or the piston rod, between the hydraulic fluid and the terminal area of the piston rod farther from the piston, is provided with a device for damping pressure surges from the hydraulic fluid. These cylinders are preferably used in hydraulically operated clutch assemblies for motor vehicles and alternatively for braking systems in motor vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1998
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Wolfgang Grosspietsch, Alfred Eusemann
  • Patent number: 5699885
    Abstract: Vibration damper with adjustable damping force, comprising a pressure tube filled with damping medium, in which a piston on an axially movable piston rod divides a work chamber into a chamber closer to the piston rod and a chamber farther from the piston rod, whereby there is a flow of damping medium between the two work chambers, which flow is divided into a main stream and side stream, a damping valve device consisting of a damping valve body with one main damping valve in each direction of flow, each of which is formed by a main stage valve body and a pilot stage valve which actuates the main stage valves, an adjustable actuator which controls a flow connection between a control chamber and a work chamber, and the main stage valve carries the flow of the main stream and the pilot stage valve carries the flow of the side stream in both directions of flow, characterized by the fact that the side stream in the pilot, stage valve flows through a non-return valve system, that the pilot stage valve has two contr
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 23, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Andreas Forster
  • Patent number: 5699887
    Abstract: A hydrokinetic torque converter has a main impeller driven by an internal combustion engine, an auxiliary impeller that can be engaged into drive connection with the main impeller by an impeller clutch, a turbine coupled to an output shaft, and a stator which together form a converter circuit filled with hydraulic fluid. The impeller clutch has a clutch member that engages with the auxiliary impeller in a rigid, non-rotatable fashion. The clutch member forms the separating wall between two chambers, each of which is connected by at least one fluid flow passage to an associated hydraulic line, which leads to a supply system and acts depending on its operating state, as an inflow or outflow line creating a pressure gradient between the chambers. Based on the pressure gradient the clutch member can be set in either a first position, in which it is connected in rotary fashion to the converter housing, or in a second position, in which this rotary connection is released.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 23, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Wolfgang Kundermann
  • Patent number: 5700027
    Abstract: Rotary actuator for a divided stabilizer on a motor vehicle axle, comprising a cylinder which is closed on the ends by two caps and forms a work chamber, ribs which run axially on the inside diameter of the cylinder, a motor shaft with splines which have the same axial length as the ribs of the cylinder, whereby the splines of the motor shaft and the ribs of the cylinder divide the work chamber into individual work chambers, a first and a second hydraulic connection for two separate work chambers, a connection system between the work chambers which hydraulically connects the work chambers at least in pairs, whereby the connected work chambers are arranged so that the work chambers corresponding to the first hydraulic connection alternate with those which are connected to the second hydraulic connection, and connection surfaces on the cylinder and on the motor shaft for the stabilizer parts, whereby the motor shaft has a blind hole with a profile to locate one of the stabilizer parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 23, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Stefan Schiffler
  • Patent number: 5698905
    Abstract: A hybrid propulsion system for a motor vehicle, in which electric motors corresponding to the wheels of the motor vehicle are supplied by a generator, which generator is driven by an internal combustion engine, in particular via a direct current intermediate circuit. To be able to start the internal combustion engine, in the event of the failure of the battery provided for starting the internal combustion engine, by pushing or towing the vehicle or rolling it downhill, the electric motors can be switched over to operate as generators, and the generator can be switched over to operate as a motor, during an emergency starting phase, once the speed of travel of the vehicle exceeds a specified speed threshold. The emergency starting attempt can be initiated by the driver by means of a control mechanism, e.g. a manually actuated control switch or the accelerator pedal. If necessary, the speed threshold can be measured by means of a speed sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 16, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Alfred Ruthlein, Erich Karg
  • Patent number: 5695037
    Abstract: An actuator is provided with a housing to hold a drive system, a transmission which converts its motion into an essentially translational movement of an output element, and an electronic subassembly. The housing has a first housing part which contains the transmission and a second housing part which supports the electronic subassembly, which is detachable from the transmission. The two housing parts, when connected to one another, and without any partitions separating them, form a compartment in which the transmission and the electronic subassembly are contained as enclosed components which are three-dimensionally engaged with one another, but are functionally separate from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 9, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Udo Borschert, Lutz Leimbach, Ullrich Scherpf, Peter Schmidt, Manfred Waning, Michael Zottmann
  • Patent number: 5690203
    Abstract: A motor vehicle friction clutch which makes an automatic wear adjustment, whereby there is at least one clearance sensor which acts by means of an actuator lever which points radially inward on an adjustment device, is located opposite the application plate, and consists of a ring element which is realized in the form of a sheet metal ring which encircles the axis of rotation concentrically. As a result of the combination of these two elements, it is possible to make do with only one clearance sensor, which means that the overall system can be manufactured economically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 25, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Achim Link, Reinhold Weidinger
  • Patent number: 5691588
    Abstract: A drive arrangement for a hybrid vehicle with an electric motor, which has a rotor with a hub body and a stator, and with two engagable and disengagable dry-disk clutches. Each of the dry-disk clutches has a first functional component as well as a second functional component. The second functional component is frictionally connectable to the first functional component in order to provide a torque transmitting connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 25, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Dieter Lutz, Dieter Bauch-Panetzky, Reinhard Feldhaus, Wolfgang Thieler
  • Patent number: 5687828
    Abstract: A friction clutch for a drive train of a motor vehicle generally has a torsional damper with at least one hub and hub disc concentric to an axis of rotation, and cover plates located on both sides of the hub disc which are non-rotationally connected together and held at a distance from one another. Coil springs can be located in apertures of the hub disc, on one hand, and in the cover plates on the other hand. The apertures can be designed so that the coil springs, located in the apertures of the cover plates, in spite of the fact that the coil springs are held without stress on their ends, cannot come loose from the apertures. To achieve this, the edges with which the ends of the respective coil springs come in contact can be provided with indentations which are designed for the radial release of the respective outermost windings of the coil springs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 18, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Norbert Ament, Harald Raab
  • Patent number: 5688177
    Abstract: For a flywheel which has two centrifugal masses and is located in the drive train of a motor vehicle, which two centrifugal masses can rotate in relation to one another and can be guided by a bearing, the bearing neck which holds the bearing on the first centrifugal mass can include a multiplicity of disc-shaped neck parts. These neck parts can be firmly fastened to one another, and to the first centrifugal mass, by rivets. The individual neck parts can be centered relative to one another and to the first centrifugal mass by centering members, independently of the rivets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 18, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Joachim Lindner
  • Patent number: 5685798
    Abstract: For the individual drive of a wheel of a motor vehicle, a planetary transmission can be combined into a single module with a motor. The planetary transmission has a sun wheel which on a motor shaft of the motor, a ring gear and a planet carrier with planet wheels which are rotationally mounted on journals. The planet carrier and the ring gear are non-rotationally connected to a support part which simultaneously forms the transmission housing, or to a driven shaft part which is rotationally mounted on the support part. The planet carrier is designed as a shaped sheet metal and comprises a sheet metal base wall which runs axially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the planetary transmission, into which sheet metal base wall the journals are shaped in a cup shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Dieter Lutz, Asmund Hey
  • Patent number: 5685361
    Abstract: A motor vehicle housing, for cooling automotive type accessory components, with a receptacle chamber designed for the installation of pre-determined components, and with a cooling chamber sealed with respect to the receptacle chamber and adjacent to it, which cooling chamber is connected with an inlet for coolant and with an outlet for the coolant, has been improved so that no coolant can get into the receptacle chamber, and the receptacle chamber has zones in which different degrees of cooling can take place. For this purpose the cooling chamber is provided with an integrated flow guide for the coolant which, in a first segment adjacent to the inlet, has an expanded portion which provides for a distribution of the coolant over a large surface, and in a second segment runs so that, in relation to a predetermined total length of the flow guide, the heat exchange surface of the flow guide assumes a maximum opposite the contact surface in this segment between the cooling chamber and the receptacle chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Holger Demmler, Adolf Karl
  • Patent number: 5685407
    Abstract: The invention relates to a transmission device which is located between the crankshaft of an engine and a clutch and is designed with a flexible plate in contact with the crankshaft, and which can be connected to the flexible plate by means of connecting elements which are engaged from the crankshaft side via the flexible plate in a fastening element of the clutch and have a retaining part for the flexible plate, so that the installation of the fastening element and the flexible plate can be performed as quickly as possible and without causing any damage. For this purpose, the connecting elements with their retaining parts for the installation of the flexible plate project from the fastening element by a distance which exceeds the thickness of the flexible plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Gerda Rudolph, Michael Grosse-Erdmann, Joseph L. Bair, Edwin Murray, Peter Doll, Heiko Schulz-Andres
  • Patent number: 5685400
    Abstract: Hydraulic, adjustable shock absorber with a working cylinder and a piston which is fastened to a piston rod and divides the working cylinder into two working chambers, with an equalization chamber located in a jacket tube surrounding the working cylinder, which equalization chamber is connected by means of at least one controllable valve and a bypass channel running inside the jacket tube to one of the working chambers, whereby at least one valve is connected to the shock absorber by means of an opening of a collar of the jacket tube, characterized by the fact that located inside the collar is a pipe socket of the valve which is connected to the collar by means of a seam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Gunther Handke, Klaus Beyfuss, Carlos Prudente, Henning Rittstieg, Rolf Wengenroth
  • Patent number: 5680916
    Abstract: An actuator is provided with a drive system and a crank mechanism which converts the motion of the drive system into an essentially translational motion of an output element. The crank mechanism is designed as a worm gear pair with a worm gear which sits on the output shaft and is engaged with a segment worm gear which is rotationally mounted in a housing, whereby engaged with the segment worm gear, in addition to the output element, there is an energy storing device, preferably a spring device, mounted so that it can pivot in a bearing, which energy storing device can move relative to the segment worm gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Udo Borschert, Lutz Leimbach, Ullrich Scherpf, Manfred Waning, Michael Zottmann
  • Patent number: 5678671
    Abstract: A motor vehicle clutch assembly has an actuator device. The clutch assembly is a friction clutch assembly. The actuator device moves linearly and is for engaging and disengaging the clutch. The actuator device is powered by a motor. The actuator device has a device for blocking the linear movement of the actuator device in a preferred position, thereby reducing work done by the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Lutz Leimbach, Reiner Voss
  • Patent number: 5678673
    Abstract: An actuator for a motor vehicle friction clutch comprises a drive system, a transmission which converts its motion into an essentially translational motion of an output element, whereby the travel of the transmission can be limited by at least one stop, and a clutch position regulating system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventors: Udo Borschert, Lutz Leimbach, Manfred Waning, Michael Zottmann
  • Patent number: 5678672
    Abstract: A torque transmission device (10) for the selective transmission of a torque between drive input parts (12) and drive output parts (14) which rotate relative to one another around an axis of rotation (A), comprising: a first clutch element (15) which is non-rotationally connected to the drive input part (12), a second clutch element (17) which is non-rotationally connected to the drive output part (14) and can be brought into selective torque transmission engagement with the first clutch element (15), whereby the first and/or the second clutch element (15, 17) comprises a membrane element (32, 36) which is in a membrane plane (E, E') which is oriented essentially orthogonally to the axis of rotation (A), displacement means (40, 42) corresponding to the respective membrane element (32, 36) for the generation of an axial displacement of the respective membrane element (32, 36) for the torque transmission engagement, whereby, in the displacement state, the respective membrane element (32, 36) comprises at least
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Jorg Sudau
  • Patent number: 5678646
    Abstract: A propulsion system for a vehicle comprising an electric motor, circuit breakers which switch field windings of the electric motor, as well as a cooling device which cools the field windings and the circuit breakers by its coolant circuit. The electric motor is realized in the form of a first modular unit which is mechanically functional in itself. The circuit breakers are assembled in at least one second modular unit, which is connected firmly to the first modular unit to form a propulsion unit. The individual modular units can be separated from one another and are connected to one another both by detachable electrical interface connections and also by detachable coolant interface connections. This construction makes it possible to selectively expand the propulsion unit by adding additional modular units, or in the event of the failure or malfunction of individual modular units to replace the modular units without having to replace the entire propulsion unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hans Fliege
  • Patent number: 5679087
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a motor vehicle planetary transmission component for the individual drive of a wheel of a motor vehicle. The planetary transmission component comprises a rotary component of a motor which is mounted with its motor shaft by means of a roller bearing on a support part, which support part simultaneously forms a housing for a planetary transmission. The motor shaft supports, equiaxially with respect to its axis of rotation, a sun wheel which is surrounded by a ring gear held on the support part. Engaged with the sun wheel and the ring gear are planet wheels which are supported axially parallel to the axis of rotation of the motor shaft on a driven shaft part of the planetary transmission. The driven shaft part is supported by means of a single, single-row roller bearing on the support part. This roller bearing is located on the side of the plane of rotation of the planet wheels axially farther from the roller bearing of the motor shaft, and has some radial play.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Fichtel & Sachs AG
    Inventor: Dieter Lutz